Noun eko@stikom.edu 28 Aug 2007

Overview A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Late last year our neighbors bought a goat. Portia White was an opera singer. The bus inspector looked at all the passengers' passes. According to Plutarch, the library at Alexandria was destroyed in 48 B.C. Philosophy is of little comfort to the starving.

Kinds of Nouns Proper X Common Concrete X Abstract Countable X Uncountable Countable  Singular X Plural Collective Noun Gender Possessive

Proper Noun You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing. The names of days of the week, months, historical documents, institutions, organizations, religions, their holy texts and their adherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun Examples: The Marroons were transported from Jamaica and forced to build the fortifications in Halifax. Many people dread Monday mornings. Beltane is celebrated on the first of May. Abraham appears in the Talmud and in the Koran. Last year, I had a Baptist, a Buddhist, and a Gardnerian Witch as roommates.

Common Noun A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun. Examples: According to the sign, the nearest town is 60 miles away. All the gardens in the neighbourhood were invaded by beetles this summer. I don't understand why some people insist on having six different kinds of mustard in their cupboards. The road crew was startled by the sight of three large moose crossing the road. Many child-care workers are underpaid.

Concrete Noun A concrete noun is a noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is the opposite of a abstract noun. Examples: The judge handed the files to the clerk. Whenever they take the dog to the beach, it spends hours chasing waves. The real estate agent urged the couple to buy the second house because it had new shingles. As the car drove past the park, the thump of a disco tune overwhelmed the string quartet's rendition of a minuet. The book binder replaced the flimsy paper cover with a sturdy, cloth-covered board.

Abstract Noun An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you can not perceive through your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun. Examples: Buying the fire extinguisher was an afterthought. Tillie is amused by people who are nostalgic about childhood. Justice often seems to slip out of our grasp. Some scientists believe that schizophrenia is transmitted genetically.

Countable Noun A countable noun (or count noun) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything (or anyone) that you can count. You can make a countable noun can be made plural and attach it to a plural verb in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns. Examples: We painted the table red and the chairs blue. Since he inherited his aunt's library, Jerome spends every weekend indexing his books. Miriam found six silver dollars in the toe of a sock. The oak tree lost three branches in the hurricane. Over the course of twenty-seven years, Martha Ballad delivered just over eight hundred babies.

Plural Noun The plural usually ends in -s: Most nouns ending in s, sh, o, or ch require an -es suffix to be plural. Nouns ending in a consonant followed by y become plural by changing the y to i and adding –es. Some words ending in "f" form the plural by deleting "f" and adding "ves," and words ending in "y" form the plural by deleting the "y" and adding "ies Remember, there are also irregular plural forms such as geese and mice. Irregular count nouns do not form their plurals.

Collective Noun A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons. You could count the individual members of the group, but you usually think of the group as a whole is generally as one unit. A collective noun is similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun. Examples: - The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture. - The steering committee meets every Sunday afternoon. - The jury is dining on take-out chicken tonight.

Noun Gender Many common nouns, like "engineer" or "teacher," can refer to men or women. Once, many English nouns would change form depending on their gender-- for example, a man was called an "author" while a woman was called an "authoress"

Possessive Noun In the possessive case, a noun or pronoun changes its form to show that it owns or is closely related to something else. Usually, nouns become possessive by adding a combination of an apostrophe and the letter "s." You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that does not end in "s" by adding an apostrophe and "s, You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that ends in "s" by adding an apostrophe alone or by adding an apostrophe and "s, You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in "s" by adding an apostrophe and a "s," You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does end in "s" by adding an apostrophe